By Kit Batten
Special to washingtonpost.com's Think Tank Town
Saturday, December 1, 2007 12:00 AM

As the presidential campaigns progress into 2008, the issues of climate change, fossil fuel dependence, and national security grow increasingly paramount. Oil hovers near $100 per barrel, and nearly three-quarters of Americans are ready to stop using oil and start using alternative fuels. Proposals to construct new U.S. coal-fired power plants are being halted due to worries about carbon emissions. Unrest continues in Iraq, Nigeria and other oil-producing nations. And next month, nations around the world will come together at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to design a post-Kyoto framework for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

All of this is occurring as the consequences of global warming -- drought, wildfires, flooding, more severe storms, etc. -- are intensifying around the globe, fueling fears of conflict and mass migrations as parts of the globe become uninhabitable. Close to home, the current dispute over water rights in the southeastern United States is an example of the conflict over natural resources that we will increasingly experience with global warming.

It is clear that the next administration will have an opportunity -- and a duty -- to demonstrate real global leadership to combat climate change and capture the energy opportunity provided by transforming the U.S. economy to a sustainable low-carbon model. This transformation will spur innovation, create jobs, clean our environment and make us safer all at the same time. The naysayers have said that we cannot afford to make this transformation, but the truth is we can't afford not to.

Presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle need to understand the need to meet this challenge and the opportunities afforded by it. Several candidates recently outlined strategies to change the way we produce and consume energy during a November 2007 nonpartisan educational forum sponsored by Grist and Living on Earth, presented in partnership with the Center for American Progress Action Fund and several other groups (all candidates were invited). All candidates should realize that a strong commitment to fighting global warming is important to Americans and to the future of our planet.

On November 28th,The Center for American Progress released an economic plan for the next administration, Progressive Growth: Transforming America's Economy through Clean Energy, Innovation, and Opportunity. In a report describing an integral component of this plan, "Capturing the Energy Opportunity: Creating a Low-Carbon Economy," we present a series of policy steps to build a low carbon economy and to limit global average temperature rise to 3.6°F (2 °C) above pre-industrial temperatures -- the threshold at which scientists agree humanity can weather the affects of global warming.

First we must implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases to reduce emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. One hundred percent of the carbon permits allowed under the cap should be auctioned with significant portions of this revenue directed to help offset rising energy costs for low- and middle-income Americans and to fund the policies outlined below.

We must transform our transportation network by increasing fleet-wide vehicle fuel efficiency, boosting the production and availability of sustainably-produced low-carbon alternative fuels, and investing in low-carbon transportation infrastructure and green city planning to reduce the number of miles driven by Americans.

We should overhaul our electricity industry by improving the efficiency of energy production and use, increasing production and consumption of renewable energy, and promoting the use of "advanced coal" through carbon capture-and-storage systems.

The federal government must create a White House National Energy Council to lead all other agencies in making energy and global warming top administration priorities. The government must also use its purchasing power and more than double its low carbon RD&D budget to spur early adoption of low carbon technologies, and invest in job training for a new "green-collar" workforce.

The next administration must regain credibility internationally by committing to a strict cap on U.S. emissions, establishing an E-8 of the world's leading developed and developing countries devoted to key ecological and resource issues, and investing in developing nations to help alleviate energy poverty with low-carbon energy systems and help these nations adapt to the effects of climate change.

The policy recommendations in this plan will be entirely financed with revenue raised by the auction of carbon credits under a cap-and-trade system and the elimination of current federal tax breaks and subsidies to the oil and gas industry.

We need a president who will make energy and global warming central tenets of his or her administration. By pursuing these steps, the next administration would create new "green-collar" jobs and new technologies that would boost job growth, productivity, and innovation, restoring American global leadership in key 21st century industries. It is time to capture the energy opportunity afforded by the creation of a low-carbon economy.

Anything less will be too little too late.

Kit Batten is Managing Director for Energy and Environmental Policy at the Center for American Progress.